The magical society in The Ancient Magus' Bride (Mahō Tsukai no Yome) Season 2 seems to be rather toxic.
When discussing The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2, it becomes pretty obvious that the magical world in this universe is very much not okay.
The main character who demonstrates this is Philomela, although the references to the Webster tragedy show that there are other victims.
We will spoil some of the second part of the second season. Also, beware discussion of a controlling grandmother.
Among the College students, Philomela seems to have gotten the shortest stick, which is revealed with desperate clarity in episode 2 of season 2 part 2. She was supposed to leave the College, but the ending of part 1 of season 2 had the College closed and sealed to figure out the strange and dangerous happenings in it. As a result, Philomela could not leave. However, her family's familiar, artificial fey Alcyone, got stuck in the college as well.
"Honestly it feels like magic societies that aren't cut-throat and abusive are the exception rather than the norm," a point made by u/Frontier246 on Reddit.
It is in episode 2 that Philomela receives a pre-recorded message from her grandmother, and that message exists to remind her that she still has to obey the grandmother or she might never see her parents again.
Philomela's grandmother seems to be extremely controlling. Philomela also reveals that she had never heard about failure being acceptable, and she cannot take a drink or, presumably, food from another person without checking it for poison. She had been trained to trust no one, and it is clear that it is difficult for her to interact with others and make friends because of that.
Is Every Magic Society a Toxic Hellscape?
Philomela's grandmother also makes sure Philomela knows that she did not escape her watch despite being sealed in the college, and she does it at the moment when Philomela is down. Philomela had just had a training session that involved killing a familiar, and Alcyone says that this sort of task is especially hard for Philomela. It was then that the grandmother's message was delivered.
The rest of the families seem to be a little less intense when it comes to training children to become future sorcerers, witches and magi. While Lucy knows about the rule of not drinking or eating what people give her, she seems less trained not to do that.
In a world where the tragedy of Websters exists, it makes sense to be cautious, but it should not be as hammered in as in Philomena's case, who seems to be literally, physically unable to drink the offered water.